Take Tech into the Classroom

If you are the tech teacher and teach in a lab, there’s a fundamental truism about students and tech that you know: Students don’t make the connection that tech in the lab is the same as tech in the classroom–just smaller. Whether the classroom has a laptop cart or a pod of desktops, students think that they’ve never seen the programs and icons before and none of the rules they learned two doors down (or wherever your lab space is in relation to the student classroom) applies to tech use in the classroom.

It requires your physical presence in their classroom, speaking to them for the transfer of knowledge to take place.

Here’s how I do it:

Before going:

Make sure the class computers work

CPU turns on

monitors work

headphones works

Make sure class computers have all the links required for class work and that are used in the lab. Ask the class teacher what those are and make sure they are on both the lab computers and the classroom laptops/pod. These are some favorites:

The school website

Tech lab class internet start page

Typing practice program

Google Earth

Starfall

A math program

If it’s not possible, be ready to explain the differences to students so they can reach a comfort level

Find out what the class teacher understands about the computers. Is she comfortable? How are students using them? Has she had problems? If there are reasons she doesn’t use them, what are they and can you solve them?

During your visit:

Go over computer use ruses. These will be the same rules that apply in the tech class (add your rules to the following list). Here are some ideas:

No food or drink by computers

No fooling around

No grabbing neighbor’s equipment

No internet except on approved sites

Try to solve problems before asking for help (especially important because you as tech teacher won’t be there to help)

Read the screen before asking for help

Leave the station the way you found it

Print only with permission

Practice good habits every time you sit at computer

Have a few students sit at the laptops/pod/1:1 devices and show how they log in, access programs the same way in class as they do in the lab

Let students ask questions. I’m always surprised at what they think is an exception.

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Hello there! We are a group of tech ed teachers who work together to offer you tech tips, advice, pedagogic discussion, lesson plans, and anything else we can think of to help you integrate tech into your classroom.